How can you tell a fake crop circle from a real one? Withthe movie “Signs” coming out in August, we can expect to seemore faked circles than ever before. Lucy Pringle, who hasbeen researching crop circles for many years, will be onDreamland August 3 and she’ll give us some good advice aboutthis. On our July 27 Dreamland show, Charles Mallet pointedout that many of the manmade circles are large andintricate, but when experienced circle researchers see themup close, they can spot them every time.

Most of the crop circles?both real and fake?have been seenin England, but now they’re turning up in the U.S. as well.In Illinois, crop consultant Ed Corrigan noticed wide pathsof broken plants circling out across a soybean field. Hequickly called the farmer, Steve Berning, to come look atit. They found no tracks going into or out of the field.When looked at from the air, you can see a series of broken,concentric rings cut into the field.

William Leone, a local Mufon investigator, says only soilanalysis can determine whether the circle was created byhumans or some other phenomenon. When he investigated aseries of 11 circles in a field of cattails in 1994, Leonesays he found genetic differences in the plants inside andoutside the circles, which all measured 84 feet in diameter.

Illinois Farm Bureau spokesman Dennis Vercler says he hasn’theard any reports about crop circles from farmers elsewherein the state. “This is the first I’ve heard of it inIllinois,” he says. “I hope it’s not a trend. Farming istough enough these days.”

More than 10% of the 8 acre field is damaged and will notrecover before the harvest in September. “It’s probablymischievous people in the area, but beyond that I don’tknow,” Corrigan says. “We scout 50,000 acres every year andwe’ve never run into anything like this before.”

Berning hasn’t reported the crop circle to police because hefigures there’s nothing to be done. “There’s some damage,which upsets me,” he says. “But I’m more curious thananything. I’ll always be asking questions.”

You can see beautiful, real circles on Lucy Pringle?scalendars and post cards,click here.

To see an elaborate fake circle,clickhere.

To learn how to spot a real circle,clickhere.

NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.

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